It’s not really about $70 per barrel oil. Not really.
Was just filling Lovely Daughter’s car (her first week on her new job: notalotta spare cash hangin’ around her bank account) and the talk at the pumps was, of course, about gas prices, oil, etc. I just knew I was gonna blog about this…
It’s not really just about oil. It’s about energy policy as a whole. Gasoline and diesel fuels have made sense for a long time, because oil is relatively plentiful, and may be even more plentiful than conventional wisdom has thought for years. So why the apparent shortages—or fear of shortages—driving oil prices and gasoline/diesel prices higher and higher?
“Why†doesn’t resolve into one simple reason. The Saudis and their ilk do need higher prices, not just because they need to make up for monies spent supporting Islamofascist butchers (although that does play a small part in their apparent greed); they also need as much as the market will bear because that’s the only thing they have, apart from generally subliterate mouths to feed and water and a religion of hate to export. Well, unless they find a larger market for their other great natural resource, but there’s just not that huge a market on sand. Besides, sand’s available worldwide cheaply, anyway.
No, aside from so much of our foreign oil coming from essentially one-product countries, there’s the false upward pressure created by artificially limiting oil production here at home. And here’s where I count strike one against eco-freaks in energy policy. We have more than enough known, and relatively easily developed, oil deposits here at home to supply most, if not all, of our needs for the present and immediate-to-moderately long term needs. But an unholy alliance of eco-freaks, media asshat know-nothings and (mostly) liberalist political grandstanders have effectively shut that option down for years.
But still, even with those pressures, gas prices haven’t reflected as much of the upward oil cost pressure as they might have because refinery capacity has been able to just barely keep up with demands. Barely, in spite of the fact that the same unholy alliance of eco-freaks, media asshat know-nothings and (mostly) liberalist political grandstanders (aided by stupidly selfish NIMBYs) have managed to keep any new refineries from being built in the U.S. for nearly 30 years. And the same short-sighted dimwits have had pretty much the same effect on distribution systems as well.
Strike two for the eco-freaks and their ilk.
Then there’s the asinine, stupid buncha eco-freaks (along with the rest of the luddite cabal) who have managed to keep ANY new nuclear power plants from being built in the U.S. for the last thirty years. Think about it. While the U.S. has continued to produce a large portion—if not the majority—of its electricity via oil, natural gas or coal (using steam generators, for the most part), more forward-looking countries such as China are building such things as pebble bed reactors by the dozens. (China plans to have 30 or so of the things in use by 2020—enough to meet its own needs and sell power to adjacent countries.) Cluebat: pebble bed reactors are arguably just about the safest, cleanest means available of producing large amounts of electricity economically. China’s no industrial powerhouse and China’s doing it right now. Cheaply.
But economically and safely lessening—or eliminating!—our need for petroleum products for use in electricity generation (even though it would greatly lower airborne pollutants) is anathema to eco-freaks who are apparently genetically unable to listen to facts. So, much of oil production is sucked up into your air conditioning (watch your electric bill soar) and refinery production goes to keep the lights burning, “helping†maintain $3 per gallon prices for gasoline…
But the luddite cabal’s evil work accomplishes more than that. Heck. Wanna virtually eliminate vehicular air pollution? Burn hydrogen. Oh, but there’s the technical hurdle of containing this fractious gas safely. Done. That’s just an engineering problem, which is something we have the technical horsepower to handle. Sure, the hydrogen molecules that’d be used for fuel are smaller than the propane molecules that’ve been used in vehicles for 50 years or more, but like I said: that’s just an engineering problem.
No, cars can be built and distribution systems maintained for hydrogen use for cars. But production… gee, ya have to have electricity to crack water to get the hydrogen! Oh! Pebble bed reactors! D’oh!
But eco freaks (and their unholy allies) don’t really want people driving SUVs that produce water vapor as a “pollutantâ€. If they did, they’d get outa the way!
*sheesh*
Phasing out most gas burners and phasing in hydrogen burners (or full electric or hydrogen fuel cell or any number of other options) would be easily possible if
- The Luddite Alliance of eco-freaks, media asshat know-nothings and (mostly) liberalist political grandstanders could be shouted down by genuine progressives.
- Crash production of the Alaskan (and other) oil assets put in play
- New refineries built
To transition to
- 50-100 pebble bed reactors built in next 10-15 years
- electric, fuel cell and hydrogen-burning autos and trucks put in production as the electricity production makes such alternatives economically and conveniently available
And that’s just one within-reach scenario. Want to turn waste into petroleum? It’s being done economically right now in a small way in Carthage, Missouri. Daily.
Want REAL solar power? If NASA and the Luddite Cabal could be sent to make gardens on the moon (nice quiet gardens, full of lovely, lovely vacuum), we could have solar power beamed as microwaves to earth collection stations. Cheaper than knocking off Saudi Arabia (though not as satisfying).
Could do it now. But watch. Mass Media Podpeople will (continue to) pin the blame for the results of 30+ years of congresscritters and administrations bowing to the wishes of Mass Media Podpeople and the other Luddite Cabal members’ wishes.
Phonies, liars and moonbats, Oh my!
Pay your $3 per gallon at the pump, folks. And thank the Luddite Cabal when you do so.